You know those mornings you wake up with that certain melody stuck in your head? If you’re lucky, it’s a good one – something from Bill Monroe, Darrell Scott, My Morning Jacket … you feel me. Point is, that’s what it’s like if you’re a Kentuckian. Every morning. Every day.

Just like one of those tunes in our head, or the thump-thump-thump in our heart … Kentucky sticks with us wherever we go. It’s more than the people and the places. Or the flora and fauna. It’s something that all Kentuckians share, far and wide, at home and abroad.

And it’s something that’s difficult to put into words. We thought Jesse Stuart said it so well that we put it on February’s shirt – “I take with me Kentucky embedded in my brain and heart.” February’s “Embedded” shirt reminds us not to take for granted the beauty that Kentucky provides us. Look around, breathe Kentucky in, and fix her characteristics in your brain and in your heart.

Kentucky – couldn’t shake her even if we wanted to. Good thing we don’t want to.